<Humans live in squalor,> he muttered to one of the other dragons.
“Yeah. No.” I shook my head and tried to focus my thoughts around the exhaustion, the shock, and the constant ringing that came whenever dragons were near. “I wasn’t expecting this. But of course Deborl destroyed the lab. Of course.”
“There were earthquakes, too.”
I motioned at the springs ripped from the mattress, the whole thing sliced open like a prize waited inside. “Some of this was deliberate. And there were drones.”
Sam dropped our backpacks and laid the flute on top, his movements stiff under the dragon’s scrutiny. “It’s okay. Come back outside.”
Even as he spoke, the building gave a low groan and shuddered. He was right. It wasn’t safe to be in here, not after the earthquakes, too.
I trudged outside to find Stef and Whit off their dragon and removing the harnesses in silence. Buzzing filled my head as Acid Breath studied me.
<You said you had a poison. Was it stored here?>
“No.” I gazed north, toward the cave where I’d hidden the twenty canisters. “I’m going to check on it, but it should be safe. The ones who did this wouldn’t know where I hid the poison.”
Acid Breath huffed. <Then our deal is still on. We will gather an army. Where will you be?>
I gazed around the ruins, snow and ice and metal shining in the sunlight. “Here for a little bit, but not long. Maybe a night or two. Then we’ll return to the city. We can walk.”
“And if Deborl left someone to watch for us?” Stef asked.
“We’ll deal with them if it comes up.”
Sam nudged me. “The canisters. How will we carry them?”
With four people and twenty canisters as big as my torso, it would be impossible. I’d hoped to have more, though. Twenty . . . I couldn’t see how it would be enough.
Acid Breath narrowed his eyes. <Take me to the poison. We will leave it outside your city.>
That could work. “We’ll have to get them into the city somehow.”
Whit nodded. “And right now we don’t even know how we’ll get ourselves inside.”
<When will Janan ascend? We can bring the canisters into the city when it begins.>
Sam, Stef, Whit, and I glanced at one another. “When does Soul Night officially begin?” I asked.
“Sundown.” Sam’s voice was low and sober. “Soul Night begins as soon as the sun sets.”
Eleven more days.
<That is when we will have your canisters ready. Where should we put them for now? Where should we bring them at sundown?> Acid Breath asked.
I glanced at the others for suggestions, but when no one spoke, I said, “For now, put them in Templedark Memorial. The field of black obelisks.”
<They’re all fallen.>
From the earthquakes. Yes. “I know. Put the canisters there, anyway. Can you do it at night so no one spots you?”
<They will hear us.>
“You can be quick, can’t you?”
<Yes.> Acid Breath’s voice grated in my head.
“Then you’ll be fine. The darkness is so they won’t see what you’re doing. Most people in the city want Janan to ascend. They don’t want us to use the poison against him, because they’re afraid. They’re terrified of the unknown—what happens if Janan doesn’t ascend.”
“They don’t know what happens if he does, though,” Whit said.
I nodded. “But someone they trust—Deborl—told them it will be good.”
The dragon blinked slowly, and the other two swung their heads around to look at me. <Will the other humans try to kill us during the spring equinox?>
“Maybe.” Or maybe they’d be too busy with Janan and whatever the cage was for.
<I suppose you don’t want us to harm them, regardless?>
“That’s what I’d prefer.” Though if he wanted to drown Deborl in a glob of acid, I wouldn’t mind.
The dragon’s grumble vibrated the ground. <Where should we take the poison inside the city?>
I closed my eyes and thought about what places might be clear, what places would be easy for dragons to reach, while difficult for Deborl and his guards. “The Councilhouse roof. We can get into the temple from there, release the poison, and duck away quickly.”
“And we’ll fly onto the roof?” Whit asked. “Magically?”
“I’m sure Stef will come up with something.”
Stef sighed and nodded. “Of course I will.”
<That is acceptable to us. Take us to the poison.>
I motioned at Sam and the others to stay behind; they could start setting up camp. A handful of sylph came with us, melting snow and ice from our path.
<Are you sure you don’t want us to carry you to the city? Your legs are so small. It will take you days to walk there on your own.>
“We can’t just ride dragons up to the city,” I muttered.
Besides, I wouldn’t subject Sam to another dragon ride if I didn’t have to. It seemed like we were safest if Sam and the dragons stayed far away from one another.
“Be careful with the canisters,” I cautioned. “If they open before we’re ready, we’ve lost. There’s only one chance.”
The dragons decided to wait until evening to take the canisters, but they stayed far out of our way the entire time they were in the area. We only heard them from a distance, crashing through trees and rumbling. Even the buzzing din of their dialogue was far away, allowing us to pick through the wreckage of the lab for a few hours in peace.
Little was salvageable. Stef found a few things she wanted to keep, and I found the canister that had been filling when we left the lab. There was nothing in it now—the poison had dispersed long ago—and there were no others lying around. So the lab had been destroyed shortly after we left.
I called Sarit to update her, and as evening fell, dragon thunder cracked the sky. We all went outside to watch Acid Breath and his friends take off, our hope clasped in their teeth and talons. Their bodies slithered through the air, scales reflecting the last rays of sunlight as they climbed higher and higher.
When they were out of sight, Sam’s posture relaxed, and we both retreated into the tent where sylph warmed our sleeping bags and heated a pot of soup.
-Animals are leaving Range.- Cris’s song was low, worried. The others hummed their concern, too.
They curled around us, closer than our own shadows, and in the heat I saw flashes of snow-choked forest with deer trails but no deer, trees with bird nests but no birds, and hollows with small animal dens but no small animals. Dry riverbeds, drained ponds with fish rotting in the bottom, and watering holes with prints stamped into the cracked mud. Hot springs were gone. Mud pools had hardened. Geysers hissed steam and nothing more.
-Range is falling apart. There will be little to eat until we reach Heart.-
And then there’d be whatever was in warehouses, no doubt closely rationed by Deborl. Sarit hadn’t mentioned she was going hungry, so I hoped she was doing all right. Water, we could at least get in the form of melted snow.
“Thanks, Cris.” Sam dropped to our sleeping bags and massaged his temples. Lines of weariness crossed his face, and circles darkened under his eyes. He needed a shower and shave. I couldn’t imagine I looked much better. “I’m so glad the dragons are gone.”
I sat next to him and rested my hand on his knee. “Me too. Though I’m relieved they’re helping, even if it’s because they’re trying to get rid of you.”
He winced. “It’s hard to accept that for the last five thousand years, they’ve been coming to Heart to find out whether I’m still alive, and then kill me.”